Pakistan summons NSC after India’s treaty suspension

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Thursday to discuss India’s recent move to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty.

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the National Security Committee meeting has been called on Thursday to decide on a response to India’s actions.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will chair the meeting, which will also be attended by Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir, federal ministers and top officials of military and intelligence agencies.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday announced the closure of Attari and Wagah borders. Pakistani citizens will no longer be able to travel to India under the SAARC visa exemption.

India’s top diplomat Vikram Misri told media persons in New Delhi that “the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty will be terminated with immediate effect.”

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs also announced that India will recall all its defence attachés from Islamabad.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs said that the number of diplomatic staff will be reduced from 55 to 30, and military advisors at the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi have been asked to leave the country within a week.

India is further downgrading diplomatic relations with Pakistan, as relations were downgraded to consular from high commissioner in 2019.

The Indus Water Treaty (IWT) is a water-sharing agreement between India and Pakistan, signed on 19 September 1960 with the facilitation of the World Bank. The treaty governs the use of the waters of the Indus River, which flows through both countries.